Kindle set down to the east of Lurline, on a forest path against a cliff. She wasn’t used to flying for a long time without a storm, so she felt pretty worn out fast. As soon as everyone hand climbed off of her she returned to her humanoid form.
“I don’t know how we made it out so smoothly…” Kindle panted. If it wasn’t for the unexpected attraction of Erik’s High Magic Arte transforming and flying out would have been nearly impossible for her with how much mana she used while fighting.
“That could have gone better…” Terbius helped support their sister since she was so exhausted.
“Was it that much of an ordeal? I’m just fine,” Breyze shrugged floating around in the air.
“Says the Spirit that’s floating around,” Kindle huffed, she couldn’t fathom just how much mana Breyze was capable of using since she had been practically flying around since they met her.
“Aliya? Are you okay?” Ter voiced in concern. Terbius approached her when they noticed she was crying.
“Why are you crying?” Bius worried about her as well.
“You aren’t hurt are you?” Kindle panicked and ran over.
“I’m crying?” Aliya looked surprised to hear that. She reached up and felt the tears on her face. “Why was I crying again?” She was trying so hard to think of the reason but that fog in her mind returned the harder she thought about it, there was a void in her memory. The last few moments of their escape eluded her. “We got away?”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Kindle looked at her with concern. “You were acting so strangely the whole time and you were off center with your High Magic Arte.”
“You’re right, why was that?” Aliya looked so confused as she wiped her tears away. She couldn’t remember why she was doing it. The last half of the battle became such a haze after she saved Raven. She looked around to see if Raven could tell her what happened but she was gone and so was Erik. She figured they must have slipped away when they were flying low over the edge of the city or even in the forest.
“Damn it, Raven’s gone and that slimy thief ditched us!” Aliya’s confusion was quickly replaced by rage. “I didn’t even get the chance to get that gun back! When I get my hands on him I’m going to wring his neck! He has no loyalty! It pisses me off!”
“If they captured all of Blacksong like they said then doesn’t that mean they have that Aurora Rune again?” Kindle looked rather concerned. It was unclear what Blacksong was going to do with it in the first place.
“Should we try and get it back?” Ter looked at Aliya wondering what their next move was.
“They’ll have another Devitalization super weapon in no time with that if they don’t destroy their country first.” Aliya took a deep breath as she started thinking aloud. “Without Blacksong resisting them, the Empire is going to be an active threat to all Spirits and there is no way to know who all is involved with the project. Given the shape Raven was in I don’t think she finished her task. Likely if The Order knew about it they would try to intervene, but unless we run into a Druid along the way we are going to have to go all the way to the Kingdom of Cibnask. If we want to focus on stopping the war while The Order takes care of it there’s a chance to diffuse the situation before it goes from bad to worse.”
“Aliya do you make it a habit of stopping wars?” Breyze was realizing the way Aliya talks and strategizes made her wonder if she really did know what she was doing.
“Well it’s not the first time, I have tried with a small crew but this is the first time leading the charge,” Aliya took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “It’s daunting to say the least, but I feel like with all your help, once we get my brothers in on this, we’ll have a chance.”
“Well Lambertine is on the way to Cibnask right?” Kindle smiled.
“We might want to lay low for a bit though,” Aliya could tell Kindle was wiped and so was she after using so much mana during that fight.
“Perhaps I can help you with that?” Erik’s voice called from the short cliff above them.
“Oh, joy! You escaped capture,” Aliya’s voice was dripping with bitter sarcasm as she rolled her eyes.
“Come now Ice Queen, you know you are happy to see me!” Erik jumped down, the bag he carried when they first met was slung over his shoulder.
“Don’t call me that!” Aliya snapped at him.
“Peace offering?” He held out the bag towards Aliya and she stared at it in disbelief for a moment. “I wasn’t planning on letting Blacksong have it back since I was turning them in. I knew it would end up in the hands of the Empire again. So I stashed it away, right before I met you all in the tavern.”
“Why give it to me?” Aliya cautiously took the bag and looked inside it to make sure the Aurora Rune was still inside. It wasn’t a trick, it was there.
“Well I didn't have a plan for it or anything,” Erik shrugged, at best he planned to hide it away somewhere or throw it into the ocean, provided it actually would sink. “After hearing you talk about it, I decided to hand it over to you. I figured you might know what to do to get rid of it so that it didn’t level a city.”
“I do…” Aliya had a downcast expression as she closed up the bag and tossed it over her shoulder. “I can’t do it here though…”
“Maybe he isn’t all that bad after all…” Terbius mumbled to Kindle. She was starting to get the same feeling they did.
“Well if you guys need a place to lay low for a bit I have a hideout on the far north eastern side of the forest,” Erik grinned and rested his hands behind his head.
“Why would we ever go anywhere with you?” Aliya’s glare was absolutely hostile.
“Aliya! Do you really need to be so hard on him?” Kindle couldn’t understand why she was being so harsh on him now. He had saved her life, went against the Empire, and gave her what was likely one of the most powerful objects a human could possess. “He saved our butts. Without his High Magic Arte punching a hole in the ceiling and giving me enough strength to fly we’d be screwed.”
“He’s traitorous scum!” Aliya yelled, pointing at him. “He not only sold out my friends at Blacksong but he turned on the Empire! What’s stopping him from turning on us?!”
“Your ‘friends’ as you call them are all murderers, you know that right?” Erik looked away with an agonized expression on his face.
“Liar!” Aliya snapped and punched him in the face. He stumbled back and fell to the ground. “Blacksong wasn’t perfect but there are Spirits in that guild I’ve known for well over a century! The Empire is going to kill them!”
“Not perfect?” Erik sat up and rubbed his cheek. His serious expression was grim as he looked at the ground. “I started following them, not just for the money. It was because I was always told that they were the kind of people to stand up to the corruption and look out for the innocent when the law couldn’t. But when they wanted me to kill innocent families to make a point to the Empire, and when I refused and they still did it anyways, I knew that this was not the same Blacksong!” He raised his voice and looked at Aliya with such a tortured expression she didn’t know what to do. “I knew full well there were Spirits among them but every one of them had innocent blood on their hands! What do you think Raven was there for? She’s an assassin. I tried to keep tabs on her so she wouldn’t kill anyone but you let her go on her own.”
“No! They aren’t like that!” Aliya shook her head. She didn’t know what to believe. It had been well over a century since she had even associated with Blacksong long enough to see what they were like. She couldn’t trust him but in that moment the way he looked at her, the fake she kept seeing wasn’t there, she felt like she was seeing the real Erik. “Mistral would never-!”
“Mistral is their guildmaster, who do you think gave all those orders?” Erik interrupted her. “She has given countless assassination orders to people who had nothing to do with anything. I don’t know what Blacksong was like before but they all deserve whatever the Empire does to them…”
“I don’t believe…” Aliya’s voice trailed off as she dropped to her knees. Her face contorted in confusion and disbelief. She didn’t always get along with Mistral but she always considered her a friend. It was hard to believe she could be capable of something so cruel. “Could she really…?!”
“I was concerned at first when you took us there,” Kindle wrapped her arms around herself. “I heard that their leader was ruthless and Blacksong had become nothing more than a band of murderers and thieves.”
“Blacksong used to be a respectable Guild, only because they did what the law could not, were they not officially recognized…” Aliya’s voice was quiet.
“If that were true I’d never have turned them over to the Empire,” Erik stood up. His voice was filled with absolute certainty.
“I…” She looked to the ground as it was starting to sink in. Everything grew quiet in the cold night air as Aliya remained still.
“Look, why don’t you guys come with me and get some rest!” Erik switched back to a better mood, unable to stand the prolonged heavy silence any longer. “You all look like you could use it!” He walked over to Aliya and held out his hand to her and smiled, he felt a little bad for ruining her day. “Just so you know I wouldn’t dream of turning a beautiful thing like you into those rotten knights.”
“You want to get punched again?” Aliya groaned in annoyance and smacked his hand away. She stood up on her own.
“There’s some temple ruins at the base of the Cathedra Mountains,” Erik shrugged and started off on the path they were on. “At most you'll find some adventurous punk kids around there, but they are easy to scare off. Most people avoid them.”
“Ruins, huh?” A spark of intrigue and curiosity started to fill Aliya.